Are State Budgets Are Breaking US Schools? (presentations)

Image via WikipediaThe TED Talks series is a shining example of experts in their respected fields giving powerful and passionate presentations.  And although most of them use a powerpoint slideshow of some sort (Keynote) they never once use it to display insane amounts of information.  Rather they use the opportunity to tell a story that is important to them in order to get you do something about it.

Bill Gates presentation is a sobering view of economics and budget shortfalls overall and in particular for education.  What are the 3 things Bill Gates wants to happen?



I also love Adora's Svitak presentation and Prezi (www.prezi.com) about What Adults Can Learn From Kids. Could you do what she did in front of all those people?

Students First

A new organization Students First,  created by Michelle Rhee (former chancellor of DC city schools), seeks to emphasize quality student learning through commitment, passion and growth within the teaching profession as well as in society.  


Points to Ponder (P2P)
What will this mean for you as teachers to be or for those teachers already in the system?
Are you threatened or do you embrace this opportunity and call for change?

Led by Michelle Rhee, the former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, StudentsFirst formed in 2010 in response to an increasing demand for a better education system in America. Our grassroots movement is designed to mobilize parents, teachers, students, administrators, and citizens throughout country, and to channel their energy to produce meaningful results on both the local and national level. United For Children Advocacy is doing business as "StudentsFirst: a movement to transform public education" and is a 501(c)4 organization based in Washington, D.C.

Overly intense practice session or just good touch coaching? (poll)

Slideshow: Holy Family Incident On Tape: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Tough or Good Coaching?
Here's an interesting news piece about a tough basketball practice emphasizing physical positioning and rebounding. Have you ever been through a similar type of practice? Please take the following poll and watch the coach as he says he doesn't think his actions were out of line but then says it was just an accident.

1. Do you think the coach's action were justifiable as a means of "toughening" up his team?
2. Do you think the coach should have been suspended?
3. Would you go back to play for that coach if you were that player and he "apologized" in that manner?
4. Do you have personal professional liability insurance when you volunteer coach, substitute teach, or coach (paid)?  Do you need to have a policy to cover you?
5. Is there a school liability insurance policy covering your actions?

Via Yahoo Sports Ugly altercation between coach, player leads to tense TV apology - The Dagger - NCAAB - Yahoo! Sports

As reported in the Yahoo piece:

Asked by Stephanopoulos earlier in the interview whether he realized his actions were out of line, O'Connor responded "not really," adding that he was only trying to make his players better. Furthermore he repeatedly referred to the incident as "an accident" and "unintentional."
Ultimately, the better PR approach might have been for O'Connor to admit he was wrong, to describe the behavior as out of character and to insist that it will not happen again. 

Employer demands Facebook Login from employee - WWYD (470)

Image via Wikipedia
Would you give your employer or potential employer your Facebook username and password? Take the poll below to voice your vote on this issue.

Employer Demands Facebook Login From Job Applicants

"...the ACLU has taken up the case of Maryland corrections officer Robert Collins, who was required to provide his Facebook login and password to the Maryland Division of Corrections during a recertification interview so the interviewer could log on to his account and read not only his postings, but those of his family and friends too. 

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Guiding Questions

1. Does an employer have the right to ask this of you?
2. Does the government have the right to ask you a similar request if you are applying to one of its military or intelligence agencies?  
3. What are your rights in terms of what potential employers are allowed to ask you?
4. Is there precedence or previous legal decisions for what is permissible and what is not in job interviews?
5. What are your legal rights and responsibilities as a teacher?
6. What legal rights do students enjoy (and do they have legal responsibilities)?
7. What are today's main approaches to moral education?
   
   
   Be sure to check out School Law & Ethics in our text
   
   

Pa. teacher suspended over 'lazy whiners' blog & NCTQ (470)

• Imagine talking about your students on your personal and anonymous blog, although using very judgmental and descriptive terms, using terms like "disengaged, lazy whiners" and then have your school district suspend you.  That is the case of Natalie Munroe, an English teacher in Central Bucks East High School, PA is facing right now.  
• "Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket" was the title of this English Honor's teacher's post and even though she is suspended, she claims in this video to not regret saying what she said.
• Munroe continues in her interview to say that it seems as if "we're catering to the customer, who is the parent, who is the student and they're always right. Teachers who are highly trained professionals are discounted."
• She has hired a lawyer who is heard as saying that the district does not have a policy on personal blogs for employees.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does she have a right to say what she wants anonymously?
2. What does announcing that she is due with her 2nd child have to do with this piece?
3. Should she be fired for her anonymous comments?

One group that I've never heard of is the National Council on Teacher Quality and from their New York Report it says that our state received a D+ grade for Teacher Policy.  I love their tagline "A research and policy group working to ensure that every child has an effective teacher."


The NCTQ TR3= Teachers Rules, Roles and Rights page, is a tremendous aid to learn what is happening in the rest of the country. Use these powerful tools and information to your advantage and be really well informed before you even apply for a position.


"Delve into the TR³ database and find out what is inside collective bargaining agreements and state policies for more than 100 of the largest school districts from all 50 states."


NCTQ questions:

1. What are your district's policies?
2. What are the 10 largest school districts doing?
3. How do AFT affiliated districts compare with NEA affiliated districts?
4. How have district policies changed over time?

Via Yahoo: Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog
Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

High School Stinks. Change the World (470)

When we allow kids to see themselves as authentic agents...
When we dare them to ask questions...
Seek out answers...
And build things that matter...
Then...
High school doesn’t suck anymore

When we do all that
we get kids who are encouraged
not just to be workers 
but to be citizens empowered to change the world.

Tests: Do they improve learning?

Tests: Will they improve learning?: "
New research may help school leaders with two important challenges that they face on a daily basis.
Focus Questions:

1. First, in these tight budget times with fewer teachers, larger classes, and fewer resources, how do we improve student performance? 
2. How do we do more with less? 
3. What are some no-cost ways that we can improve our schools?
4. What is tracking, and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
5. Why has "detracking" become a popular movement

• Howard Gardner, an education professor at Harvard advocates constructivism — the idea that children should discover their own approach to learning, emphasizing reasoning over memorization. 

Look 4s for School Leaders

• Closure and Learning
• Remembering 
• Checks for Understanding
• Timing
• Feedback 
• Defined Instructional Practices 
• Formative Assessments
• Mapping

Who Will You Teach? Census Bureau's School Demographics

More Educational Data: Census Bureau Releases School Enrollment Demographics: "
The U.S. Census Bureau released its most recent data on school enrollment. The information comes from the Current Population Survey, a statistical survey that the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics administer.

Guiding Questions?

1. How will these facts influence the schooling in your school district?
2. How does enrollment factor into how much a teacher is paid or how much money a school district receives?
3. What impact do changing family patterns and economic issues have on children and schools?
4. In what ways does the adolescent culture shape teenage perceptions and behaviors?

Here is one of the table from the Census Bureau site:

Table 1.

Enrollment Status of the Population 3 Years Old and Over, by Sex, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Foreign Born, and Foreign-Born Parentage: October 2009 All Races Excel (37k) | CSV (6k) White alone Excel (31k) | CSV (6k) White alone non-Hispanic Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Black alone Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Asian alone Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Hispanic Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) White alone or in combination Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Black alone or in combination Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Asian alone or in combination Excel (32k) | CSV (5k) Foreign Born Excel (31k) | CSV (5k) Children of Foreign Born Parents Excel (31k) | CSV (5k)

Pew Internet Report: Gadget Adoption by Generation (470)

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released its “Generations and Gadgets” (PDF) report and you may ask yourself what on earth does this have to do with education, let  alone PE. Plenty my friend. as discussed in chapter 2 and throughout this course, the integration and adoption of best-practices using technology to assess and evaluate will be crucial to your mission to improve student learning and school climate.  If you're not assessing something, how do you know if your students have learned anything? Knowing which forms of technology your students have or have access to will be really important when deciding which curricular foci and assignments.  Remember that you will need to know National Common Core, NCATE Beginning Teacher, ISTE (Technology) and much more.  

Where do you fit in terms of Generation and gadgetry? Take a look at the report and see what else you can glean and add to your SPOPE Media Broadcasts.

Image via Wikipedia

But as Benjamin Zander eloquently and amusingly presents true possibility vs. negativity and doubt. Benjamin Zander is indeed a Maestro in every sense. As the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, he lives and breathes his mantra of "The Art of Possibility" which opposes the tide of negativity, conformity, and the downward spiral. The question is, how will you "move" people into the world of "Possibility" and "take them to a place they couldn't reach without you?"  How are you working to chip away at the rock that surrounds a potential statue like Michelangelo?


Compare and contrast your teaching style and technique to Zander's. Can you describe in detail three elements you covered in in the past and three of Zander’s teaching elements/techniques you want to be able to do by the end of this semester? How will these changes in your teaching affect your communication style, student learning, overall growth towards being an outstanding leader, and reduce student misbehavior?  How Fascinating!

@ Yahoo! Video

Related articles

• Survey: Most homes own at least one tech gadget (news.cnet.com)
• Report: 90% of Americans own a computerized gadget (cnn.com)

Return on Educational Investment (ROI)

Educational Productivity (ROI)

Economists at the Center for American Progress announced an online interactive website that compares the educational productivity of 9,000 United States school districts.

This report is the culmination of a yearlong effort to study the efficiency of the nation’s public education system and includes the first-ever attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country.

Findings:

• Highly productive districts are focused on improving student outcomes. 
• More education spending will not automatically improve student outcomes. 
• The nation’s least-productive districts spend more on administration
• Most states and districts have not done nearly enough to measure or produce the productivity gains our education system so desperately needs. 

Focus Questions
Above is the interactive map for New York with a special emphasis on Cortland City School District.

1. Is Cortland's "Yellow" rating good enough for you and why might Groton, McGraw, Dryden, Ithaca be so different?
2. Can you find your home school district and see how they performed? 
3. What do these findings tell you about your school's level of performance?
4. Is it accurate according to what you remember and know? 
5. Do you agree with their research methodology and recommendations? 
6. How are you staying up-to-date with research, policy and practice?

Boser, U. Return on Educational InvestmentA District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity. January 19, 2011.